Full respect for fundamental rights in the context of migration and border management, police and judicial procedures is a value shared by Morocco and the European Union, said a spokesperson for the European Commission.
“Morocco is a strategic and committed partner of the European Union, with which the EU has been cooperating on migration issues for several years. Its National Immigration and Asylum Strategy (SNIA) is one of the most developed migration management systems today, both legislatively and institutionally, and has resulted in the legalization of the administrative status of thousands of migrants and their integration into Moroccan society”she pointed out.
The spokeswoman pointed out that the concrete efforts made by Morocco have made it possible, during the first half of this year, to prevent thousands of irregular departures, many of whom were rescued at sea, adding that Morocco has also dismantled a large number of criminal networks of traffickers.
Highlighting the place occupied by Morocco in the Commission’s ongoing and future initiatives, both in terms of legal migration and the fight against illegal immigration, the spokesperson underlined that the Commission ”will continue to closely monitor Morocco’s efforts to manage its borders, rescue people and combat migrant smuggling”.
“Our cooperation focuses primarily on promoting the rights and protecting vulnerable migrants and refugees, on institutional support for migration management, on creating economic opportunities and on supporting legal mobility programs as as alternatives to irregular migration’‘, she detailed.
He added that the new pact on migration and asylum places strong emphasis on labor migration, recalling that Morocco has been identified as one of the priority countries – along with Egypt and Tunisia – for launch a talent partnership, as part of broader cooperation on all aspects of migration.
The spokesperson returned to the launch, on July 8 in Rabat, of a renewed partnership between Morocco and the EU in terms of migration and the fight against human trafficking networks, during a meeting between Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit, European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson and Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska. A partnership affixed a few days after the last violent, planned and premeditated assault of migrants in Nador to force the passage towards Melilia, which had come to remind the emergence of new extremely violent operating modes adopted by the criminal networks of smugglers and the complexity of the phenomenon of illegal migration.
“The new operational partnership to combat migrant smuggling between the Commission and Morocco to combat trafficking in human beings will focus in particular on support for border management, strengthening police cooperation (including joint investigations) , raising awareness of the dangers of irregular migration and strengthening cooperation with the European Union agencies responsible for home affairs”said the spokesperson.
The operational partnership will also seek, she noted, synergies with the Euro-African dialogue on migration and development (Rabat process), co-chaired by Morocco, and with the Africa-Frontex intelligence community (European Agency Border and Coast Guard), to enhance information sharing between agencies and between regions, and to improve operational risk analysis capabilities.
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